ANONYMOUS

                                    Haninah and the Frog

A true story.

Once there lived a rich Jew in Palestine. He walked in the ways of God and he was good and pious. He was very learned and could foresee the future. He knew what was going to happen. So the king made him his prime minister.

The rich man had a son, and his name was Haninah. He was very learned and thoroughly versed in the Torah. When his father was old and about to die, he called in his son and told him his will: He was to sit day and night and study the holy Torah, and observe the religious commandments and do good deeds.

“Don't forget the poor,” said his father, “for I and your mother will die on the same day.”

He also told his son that the last of the seven days of mourning would be the eve of Passover, and that he therefore shouldn't grieve for long. When the seven days were over, he was to go out to the marketplace and buy the very first thing he saw, even if it cost a great deal of money. If he bought a living thing that had to be raised, he was to keep it and care for it, for something good would come of it. But he didn't tell his son what this would be.

When the father had thus spoken his will to his son, he and the mother passed away just as he had foretold. The son, Haninah, did everything his father had told him to do. When Passover Eve came and the seven days of mourning were over, he stood up and went to the market. There he met an old man hawking a beautiful silver vessel. Haninah asked him:

“Tell me, how much is that vessel?”

The old man replied: “It costs eighty ducats.”

Haninah offered him sixty ducats.

The old man replied: “I can't give it to you for so little.”

In the end, Haninah did buy it even though the price was exorbitant. After all, he was carrying out his father's last wishes.

On the first night of Passover, he put the vessel on his table. Upon opening it, he found a second vessel inside, and within it there was a frog, merrily dancing and springing about. Haninah gave the frog food and drink, and by the end of Passover week, the frog was so big that the vessel was too small for him. So Haninah made a small cabinet and put the frog inside. He didn't stint on food or drink for the frog, and soon the cabinet became too small for him. Haninah built a room for the frog so that he would feel comfortable. He fattened him up with the best and finest foods until he had spent all he possessed. He did this in order to carry out his father's dying wishes. At last, Haninah was so poor that he couldn't even take care of his wife.

One day, Haninah and his wife went into the frog's room and said to him:

“Dear friend, to our great sorrow we can no longer keep you for we have nothing left. Everything we possessed we have spent on you.”

The frog opened his mouth and began to speak.

“Dear Haninah, don't grieve. Since you've been taking care of me and feeding me all this time, you can now ask something of me. just tell me what your heart desires, and you shall get it.”

Haninah said: “There is only one thing I desire. Teach me the entire Law.”

The frog answered: “Fine, I promise I shall.”

And that very moment, he taught him the entire Law and, in addition, all the seventy languages. And this is how he did it:

The frog took a piece of paper, wrote down several charms, and then told Haninah to swallow It. In this way, he promptly knew the entire Torah and the seventy languages. He could even understand the speech of the beasts and the birds.

Next, the frog turned to Haninah wife and said:

“You treated me very well, and I still haven't rewarded you. I will give you your reward too. But now the time has come for me to say goodbye. And before I leave, I would like you to accompany me as far as the Forest of Trees, and there you will see what I want to give you.”

And so they went to the woods with him and, upon arriving, the frog emitted a loud croak, calling together all the beasts in the forest. No sooner did his croaking resound through the woods than an endless number of beasts and birds started running from all sides. The frog ordered each of them to bring as many jewels and pearls as he could carry. In addition, they were to bring all kinds of herbs and roots to cure the ill. Meanwhile, he taught Haninah and his wife the virtues of each specific, and then ordered the animals to bring everything back to Haninah's house.

When the frog was about to leave, he said to the couple:

“May the Good Lord bless you and be good to you for all the work and trouble you had with me. After all, you didn't even ask who I am. But I will tell you the secret. I am the son of Adam, and he had me with Lilith during the hundred and thirty years that he was separated from Eve. The Lord God gave me the power to change shape at will."

And with these words, he bade them farewell and went on his way.

Haninah and his wife went home, and from then on they lived in wealth and honor. And he also found grace in the eyes of the king, like his father before him.

In those days. the nation of Israel was ruled by a wicked king who didn't have a wife. The elders of Israel came and asked him to take a woman to be his queen, for It wasn't proper for a king to be unmarried. In reality, they hoped that if he took a wife, he would mend his ways and become decent and pious.

The king told them to come back in a week and he would give them an answer.

Around this time, Haninah was teaching his pupils the Talmudic laws about birds and telling them many new and surprising things. Suddenly a raven flew up and spoke a prayer to God, begging Him to protect Haninah from the great troubles he was about to face. Haninah, who understood the speech of the birds, was surprised at what the raven said. Soon, another bird flew up, and, just like the first, it screamed loud and begged the Good Lord to take pity on Haninah and save him from the awful troubles. We know, of course, that Haninah understood all this, for the frog had taught him the speech of the beasts and birds just as we have read above.

That very day, the elders of Israel had again come to the king, as he had bidden them, to hear his promised answer. While they were talking to the king, a huge bird flew up with a gold hair in his bill, and he dropped the hair on the king's shoulder. The king took the hair in his hand and saw that it was as long as he was tall. He thereupon said to the elders of Israel that he would take no other woman as his wife but the one whose hair this was. And he ordered them to go out and bring back without fail the woman whose hair this was. If they refused, then he would kill all Israel (God forbid!).

Upon hearing these words, the elders were greatly frightened and didn't know what to do. Among them, however, there were several men who hated Haninah with all their might because they envied him for being so highly respected by the king. And they hit upon a plan for getting even with him. They told the king:

“Your Majesty, in your entire kingdom there is no better man to carry out your will than Haninah, whose wisdom and learning are great. He will surely be capable of finding the whereabouts of the woman with the gold hair.”

To tell the truth, their praise and sound advice were not meant for Haninah's good. On the contrary, they wanted to thwart him and bring about his downfall. For if he didn't find the queen, the king would despise him and his doom would be sealed.

When the king heard what his lords said, he sent for Haninah and ordered him to go through the world and look for the queen. Naturally, Haninah could not oppose the king's will for he was deathly afraid of his anger. He had no choice but to accept the mission. The king wanted to send someone with him on his journey, but Haninah refused, saying he would rather go alone.

And so, Haninah went home and said goodbye to his wife and children. He took twelve ducats and three loaves of bread for provisions, and then he started out. His students went along with him until outside the town, and there he told them to go back.

And thus he went off, alone, down roads and over fields, often in a deep snow, until he was so worn out that he dropped down beneath a tree to rest.

All at once, he heard a raven lamenting that she hadn't had a bite to eat for three days. Upon hearing this, Haninah went over and gave her a piece of bread just to keep her alive.

On the second day, Haninah heard a dog howling and lamenting in its doggish whine that it hadn't eaten for six days. Again, Haninah went over to the dog, and gave it a piece of his bread to keep it alive. By now, Haninah had no bread left for himself.

On the third day, when he came out of the woods, a hot sun was blazing, and Haninah came to a lovely green meadow where all kinds of delicious herbs were growing. He ate and refreshed himself.

Walking farther, he came to a huge river. He caught sight of some fishermen who were fishing in the water and who had caught a fish that was so big they couldn't pull it out. So he went over and helped them bring the fish ashore. It was a large, fine fish, and Haninah bought it from them' for twelve ducats. Then he took the fish and threw it back into the water. The fish was overjoyed at being released from the hands of its captors.

Haninah walked on until he saw a town lying before him. He went into the town, where the queen with the golden hair was living. Haninah kept making inquiries until he found out where she was: When he came to her house, she happened to glance out the window and saw him standing in front. She promptly realized how wise and accomplished he was, and she told her advisers:

“There is a man standing downstairs who is very wise. Go and bring him up to me.”

They did what she asked.

When Haninah stood before the queen, he spoke to her with great respect and reverence, as one should speak to a queen. He told her about his mission and informed her that if she didn't agree to marry the king, then there was a great danger that all the Jews would be killed—God forbid!

The queen replied:

“I have heard what you said and I am ready to go along with you and save the Jews from destruction. And since you are such a wise man, I would like to ask you two things. If you do them, then I will go with you, and if not, then I won't. That is my condition.”

“My first wish is that you bring me two jugs of water: one jug of water from heaven and one jug of water from hell. When you've done that, then I'll tell you what else you have to do for me.”

But to herself she thought that he would not succeed in carrying out this task, for it was simply impossible, as indeed it was.

When Haninah heard what she said, he became very sad. But the queen said to him:

“The hair certainly comes from me. And I know exactly how it happened. Once I was washing my hair in the garden. Suddenly a bird flew up and pulled out one of my hairs. Now go ahead and fulfill my request, and I will go along with you as you have asked.”

What could the poor man do? He went back out through the door and prayed with a heavy heart to the Good Lord to take pity on him and help him obtain the water, so that he could save the Jews from the great peril. God alone knew that he had gone on this far journey full of danger and suffering. How could he return empty‑handed? And as he poured out his sorrow to the Lord God, a raven came flying up. It was the same raven who hadn't eaten for three whole days until Haninah took pity and fed her his own bread. The raven called Haninah by his name and said to him:

“Dear Rabbi, don't you recognize me? I'm the bird you gave bread to in the forest. I heard your cries about the water, and I want to help you. Tie two jugs to my wings, and I'll fly off and bring you the water you have to have so that you can save the Jews from the evil decree.”

When Haninah heard this, he was overjoyed. He tied a jug to each of the bird's wings, as the bird had asked. The bird flew off to hell and filled one jug with boiling water, but the terrible heat singed her feathers. However, she speedily flew to the river that flows out of heaven and plunged in. Her feathers were restored and she was cured. Then she filled the other jug with water from heaven and, in great joy, she flew back to Haninah to give him the two jugs of water.

Haninah went back to the queen in high spirits and brought her the two jugs of water. The queen said:

“Let me first make sure that the water is genuine and not false.”

The queen took the jug of water from hell and splashed some on her hand‑it burnt her badly. Quickly she took the water from heaven and rubbed it into her hand—and it cured her. In this way, she made sure that Haninah hadn't fooled her, and that the waters were genuine.

Now she turned to Haninah again and said:

“Now I will ask you to perform a second task for me. Once when I was sailing on the sea, a gold ring with a jewel in it fell off my hand and dropped into the sea. If you can find that ring for me, I'll go with you wherever you like.”

But to herself, she thought that he would never be able to find it anyway. But again, the Good Lord in his great mercy did not abandon him and helped once more.

With a deep sorrow in his heart, Haninah walked out of the town, stopped by a river, and offered ardent prayers to the Lord God. All at once, along came the big fish that Haninah had bought from the fishermen. The fish said to him:

“My dear Rabbi, don't you recognize me? I'm the fish you once redeemed from the hands of the fishermen. Tell me what you desire and I'll do it for you.”

Haninah said to him: “I have to have the ring that the queen once lost in the sea.”

Quickly the fish sped away to Leviathan and told him the whole  story, and how the man had once saved his life when the fisherman had caught him. Now the man was in great trouble and had come to him with a wish. The queen had lost a precious ring in the sea, and the man wanted to find it and return it to her. “And so, Your Majesty, my wish is that you help Rabbi Haninah.”

Leviathan promptly called together all the fish of the Great Sea and told them to reveal, under pain of excommunication, who had swallowed the ring and to return it right away. Well, a fish appeared and coughed up the ring. The big fish then took the ring and brought it to Haninah, spewing it out on the shore.

Suddenly, up dashed a wild boar, pounced upon the ring, and swallowed it. Haninah again began to weep in great sorrow, and to cry out to God for His help. All at once, along came the dog he had given his bread to in the forest. The dog said to him:

“Dear Rabbi, don't you remember me?”

Haninah said: “No.”

The dog went on: “I am the dog you fed your piece of bread to in the forest. I've come to help you in any way you need me.”

Haninah said:

“You've really come in the nick of time. I lost a ring, and the wild boar swallowed it.”

Without further ado, the dog took off after the wild boar, seized him, and tore him to bits. Haninah thus found the ring and took it back to the queen.

When the queen saw the ring again, she was deeply frightened, for she had never dreamt that he would bring it back to her. She said to him:

"I promised you that if you would perform my two tasks, I would come along with you. You have done your part, and  so I shall keep my word and come back with you." And so, together with her advisers, she started out on the journey to the king of Israel.

When the king laid eyes upon the queen, he was deeply smitten. He sent Rabbi Haninah to invite one and all to the wedding. When the nobles of the king saw how well Haninah had succeeded in his mission and that he was still a favorite of the king's, they devised a way of getting rid of him. They were so envious that they lay in wait for him in a quiet street and murdered him.

When the queen heard what had happened, she was terror-stricken. Quickly, she hurried to the place where the corpse was lying and announced that he wasn't dead. She took the water of heaven and splashed it on him, and Haninah came back to life as never before.

The king and his nobles were amazed that the queen could have raised him from the dead. And the king said:

"I will marry the queen only on condition that she murder me and then raise me from the dead."

The queen said to him:

"My dear king, I beg you, don't do it, the danger is great. If I was able to bring someone back from the dead, it was only because he is saintly and God‑fearing in every way."

But for all her reasoning and arguing, the king insisted on having his way, and he ordered one of his servants to kill him.

What did the queen do now? She took the water of hell and poured it upon him. And the king fell into ashes and dust.

The queen turned to the lords and said:

“Just look for yourselves, my dear nobles! If the king had been truly pious, he would have come back to life again. But as I see, he was evil in every way.”

When the king's wise men saw how wise and pious Rabbi Haninah was, they held counsel among themselves and resolved, one and all, to make him king of Israel. Since his own wife had died in the meantime, they gave him the queen for a wife and he ruled over Israel for many years.

The moral of the story is that because he performed his tasks so well, he deserved to have the queen with the golden hair as his wife.